Finished it after 55 hours, most sub-quests completed. For the most part, this is one of the best RPGs I've ever played, up there with the greats. Where it falters is in the main quest, as it's perfunctory and almost ignored by the rest of the game, but that's not as big an issue as it sounds as POE2 isn't really about a colossal god striding across the sea, leaving destruction in his wake. It's about the Deadfire and its people, all vying for power and control for different reasons. That conflict comprises the majority of the game, and it's superb. The fact that these factions are only vaguely concerned with Eothas and what he's up to may be intentional - possibly setting the tone that mortals aren't truly concerned with what the gods actually want or what actions they actually take, but rather their concern is what they imagine the gods motives are. They use these imagined motives to further their own goals, or in some cases reject the gods entirely because they don't care. At the same time, the gods are doing their own thing, regardless of what the mortals want or believe. It's a dichotomy between gods and mortals that I don't think is entirely accidental, even if that is at the expense of the main quest line.

The game is at its absolute best when you ignore what you're 'supposed' to be doing and sail off into uncharted waters to explore. That is a pure joy, and there are plenty of intrigues and treasures to be found. The complicated relationships between factions and your part in them are also interesting, if confusing at times, and the scope for the many ways in which that can play out is impressive. It faltered at the end as I thought I'd done everything I needed to do to secure my allegiance with one particular faction but apparently I hadn't, and the implied way of achieving that was no longer an option. It was unclear if that was a bug or if I'd done something wrong, but it was an unfortunate complication.

On the whole this is an excellent game, far better than the first in every way.

Finished this up last night, didn't get a look a the final hour count, but it was probably around 40 hours. Overall I enjoyed it a lot more than the first game, it was a much more enjoyable world to be in and much more interesting one. The main story wasn't particularly great, but some of the side stuff was interesting enough and the faction stuff was a cool way to go. The main thing I enjoyed was just sailing around and discovering places and people. It was a well written game and pretty much all the voice acting was up to scratch. It's a very well put together game, however it has one major flaw, it lacks weight and heft.

Because the main story is a bit meh it is left to the other parts of the game to compensate and whilst sailing around exploring is good fun and the intrigue between the factions is good, none of it means anything. As no one really gets angry with you no matter how many quests you do for the other side, it breaks the idea that these factions are at each other's throats. There is also no build-up, I was happily playing along and suddenly found myself without any quests left and at the end of the game. The faction stuff had just been bubbling along without any sign that things were ratcheting up and then suddenly BAM, I had to decide which faction I was going to side with, which ultimately ends with serious consequences for the ones you don't pick. Because I had no real affinity with any of the factions, asthe game hadn't done anything to really make me feel for any of them, I just picked one at random. Consequently when the game ends and it tells you what has happened to the other factions I found it hard to really care. This lack of heft is true for the companion quests as well. Most of them resolve in unsatisfactory ways and some hardly had anything to them, like Aloth's.

When I look back at my time with POE2 it is hard to think of any strong emotions I had about the game. In many ways it reminds me of Dragon Age Inquisition, like that game the world you are in and the characters you meet are interesting, but the story behind it all is just lacking. POE 2 has a much more interesting world with better combat and I enjoyed playing it much more, but the feeling I had at the end of both games is pretty similar.

So POE2, good game moment-to-moment, but overall just lacking that special something